The Legend Of Harry
by primusinvictus
Summary: Revised edition. Two brothers. One abandoned, the other treasured. One hated, the other loved. One neglected, the other nurtured. One in the end was chosen by fate to end the cycle of hatred and misery. The other in the end was granted the life with happiness and family. This is a story of their choices. This is a story of how legends are formed.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning of an End

A/n: Reformed edition. Hope some like it. Please inform me if it is too pathetic.

Chapter 1: The Beginning of an End

Harry stood there in middle of the canopy of Death Eaters, The Dark Lord before him, and shattered pieces of his heart behind him. The shock of this ridiculous action, the suddenness of this laudable idiocy had even the most hardened and craziest of the maniacs of world standing around him stunned into silence. This crack of stillness in the torrent of time that had trapped him in this past year had his mind meditate over his past life. In the last of his moments a gripping fear that he had fought so hard to suppress caught his unsuspecting heart.

It shouldn't have been this way. His bother should have been the chosen one. He should have been the one facing his death right now whilst Harry stood back at Hogwarts, comforting Hermione and his parents, and after the demise of Riddle at long last, it should have been him basking in the love and affection of his family and friends, not his git of a brother! Why, after everything in the end, the world spiralled down to his suffering after all? The envy for his brother Harry caressed within his mind was enormous.

Yet as Riddle lifted the Elder wand at last spelling the much feared words of death to Harry, a strange calmness washed over him. He understood his fate now. He was destined to suffer, destined to crave for every chink of light in his dark life because after all, he was ultimately just a sacrifice for the Wizarding world.

Irony it is, they fatten a bother with affection for him to be sacrificed in the end, and it turns out to be his starving brother who is to be offered for death. But at long last, his aching heart finally understood as the green light was before him.

He was never meant for love.

"Avada Kadavra!" Voldemort shouted in glee and anticipation. The green light escaped from the strongest wand there is and met its target who accepted with a silence of finality.

Harry felt as if he was punched with an iron clad glove at his chest as he fell with the last of light fading from his eyes.

In the last of his moments, how he wished he could have felt the arms of his mother around him for a while longer at that particularly blissful time, two years ago. Had it been that long?

x…..x….x…x…..x….x…x

Eleven year old Harry awoke pretty early that day. It was Dudley's birthday. He was quick to go about working in the kitchen, preparing a delicious breakfast for the fat boy to drool over. When Aunt Petunia woke at last, she was greeted with a delicious aroma of world class dishes upon entering the kitchen.

And along came Dudley, eager as always for some food.

Aunt Petunia glared at the boy who was standing there awkwardly after completing the numerous strenuous dishes required to sate Dudley's appetite. Harry had gone above and beyond this time, clearly seeking desperately to impress his aunt.

"What are you doing here boy! Your work is finished now isn't it? So get back in the cupboard now or have you forgotten you are still grounded?" Aunt Petunia snapped shrilly at Harry.

"But…"

"But what? Have you already forgotten what you did last week? This only goes on to show how spoilt you have become over time!" She exclaimed in exasperation as she deftly grabbed the collar of his overgrown t-shirt and dragged him back into his cupboard that was his room. She slammed the door behind him and locked the cupboard.

"But it wasn't me Aunt Petunia! It blew out by itself!" Harry shouted for no avail from his cupboard which only went on to lengthen his term for another week for lying.

Weird thing always happened around Harry, and somehow the blame always went to Harry. He was the freak in the house after all.

Harry never understood how that logic worked.

Harry looked through the little bars in the cupboard door at the happy family as they went around preparing for Dudley's birthday.

Uncle Vernon was just complaining and grumbling about the no-good Harry as he sat down to read his morning newspaper. Complaining about Harry was his favourite pass time.

"I swear you were barmy then Petunia to even consider raising that freak for your sister!"

"What could I have done Vernon? His parents were no better! A child even they were repulsed with should had been something nicer but he turned out to be worse! No wonder they left him! We shouldn't have accepted him either but you know how my heart is?"

"Of course Petunia! You have a heart of gold, I always knew that!"

The morning dragged away as Harry glumly sat at the door watching Dudley's tantrums over the gifts as his mother fussed and consoled him with her devoted adoration towards him.

Harry always wondered what he lacked compared to Dudley and other kids who had their parents to shower them with love.

No matter what Harry tried his aunt never looked at him the way she looked at her son. Be it cleaning the house everyday, cooking a banquet for all three meals, tending the garden to perfection his uncle and aunt were never impressed with him, no matter how hard he tried. Harry never stopped trying though..it was his only way to stay sane, to have hope that someday he might become worthy enough for their affection. He couldn't just accept his worthlessness and go on. He had to try.

It was three hours later that Harry was allowed to get out to eat what was left over of his tediously cooked breakfast when he got a pleasant surprise.

broke her leg and was unable to care for Harry when the Dursleys went for their excursion, neither was any in the neighbourhood free enough to take care of him, which only meant that Harry would accompany them to the zoo! Harry was never been happier. Dursleys had never taken him anywhere before. This day was looking towards a better side.

Only that it turned out to be the worst. Harry accidentally set a boa constrictor from the zoo at Dudley. The weirder thing was that he could actually talk with the reptile but that new discovery settled in the back of his mind as he braced himself to be grounded for a lifetime(he didn't even bother considering the vanishing the glass cage as weird, it was too simple compared to actually talking with animals) . The Dursleys were furious. Harry never saw the sun for months. He was only let out for cleaning the house or cooking the food or eating the leftover meals after the Dursleys had scavenged every morsel of his hard cooked delicious meal, leaving him with the worst parts. Harry only had the spiders in his closet for company for company for all those times; he sometimes hoped he could have spoken to them too.

Harry didn't come out of his punishment until his birthday.

Harry didn't even know why he even remembered his birthday; it isn't like anything different happened on that day. Unless you count the occasional thrashing Harry gets as a 'birthday gift' from Dudley when he finds out scribbled cakes and candles on Harry's cupboard walls or notebooks.

But this birthday was different; far more different than any birthday that he ever had. That day changed Harry's mundane life forever.

A letter came for him. Through an owl. With a coat of arms engraved on the front.

Uncle Vernon was quick to snatch the letter away from Harry before he could read a word. He was then locked again in his cupboard for fighting for the letter leaving him wondering about the ashen faces Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia sported.

Night was one of the favourite times for Harry. The Dursleys slept like dead after a hearty meal and Harry made sure they had one every night. It gave him the freedom in the dark for anything he wanted. It was how he devoured the cook books his aunt bought, if she suspected then she didn't let on. Harry had long since learnt to pick the locks of his cupboard door. That is how he managed to get out of his cupboard that night and sneaked out the holy letter that lay in a crumpled ball inside the drawer beside the bed where his uncle and aunt slept. The letter and envelope clearly showed signs of abuse that it suffered from his uncle's wrath. Harry was thankful to the gods above that it wasn't him this time. Harry was seldom beaten unless he did something that could stretch the anger of his uncle to a breaking point. Last time it happened was when he accidentally hurt one of Aunt Marge's monster dogs which loved chasing little Harry. Harry could swear it drooled like in front of a meal when near him. The swollen purple face his uncle adorned was comical; the swollen purple body Harry was left with was painful. Needless to say Harry got out lucky with the zoo incident.

Harry held in his hand the mystery letter, his hands shaking furiously from excitement, his heart rampaging impatiently from nervousness. Harry had always held within deep inside his heart an intense longing and hope that someday his parents might return telling him it was all a big mistake, and take him back. He faintly remembered the face of what he assumed (made himself believe beyond foolish reasons) was his mother. She had a beautiful face in the dream, with flaming red hair and green eyes, like his own. Harry unfurled the crumpled letter in impatience, eager to read whatever it contained for him.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY _

_Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE _

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards) _

_Dear Mr. Dursley, _

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. _

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. _

_Yours sincerely, _

_Minerva McGonagall, _

_Deputy Headmistress _

It could have had been any Dursley from the house, but it specifically said Harry Dursley on the address, who lived inside the cupboard under the stairs, at Little Whinging, 4 Privet Drive.

A school! Harry was admitted to a school! A wizard school! Harry could only think of what a cruel joke the Dursleys played on him.

That night after a long time Harry once again cried himself to sleep in his cupboard clutching his favourite pillow(he only had one though), which had the childish drawing of a woman with red hair drawn with crayons stolen from Harry's uncaring cousin and under the drawing written almost unintelligibly were the words:

Mommy loves you.


	2. Chapter 2: Prelude to a Journey

A\n: Please tell me if I am jumping scenes too much. This chapter may be boring to some. Please don't be confused, Harry is the real boy who lived. I would squeeze in the wand scene at the Ollivanders in the next chapter. It was intentional.

**Chapter 2: Prelude to a journey**

The hulking man sat in the three seater plush sofa that fits the whole Dursley family save Harry in it but was barely containing the man who called himself Hagrid. He was easily the largest man Harry ever saw.

Harry was standing in the doorway to drawing room, trying very hard to keep pace with the conversation and maintain his sanity.

It seems that his aunt had replied to the weird letter through the same owl that delivered it. And this Hagrid was their reply. A scared Aunt Petunia was standing behind Uncle Verno**n, **who was holding a gun Harry never knew he had.

"They said he was normal! That was the condition that I agreed to before taking that freak in!" Aunt Petunia shrieked from behind her husband while pointing at Harry. Dudley was locked inside his own room; his parents it seemed didn't want the boy to be traumatized with the vision of someone larger than his daddy.

"If the letter got to him then he might have some magic in him. Hogwarts is never wrong!", Hagrid told them while looking at Harry and scratching his forest of a beard, "you are lucky lad, Hogwarts is the best place to learn magic! You will love it!"

He sounded very proud of this school but Harry still had trouble deciding whether this was some bizarre joke or a weird dream. His aunt and uncle had drilled into him ever since his conscious childhood memory that there should not be and would not be anything out of the ordinary in this world. Every fantastical dream was discouraged; every childish theory or fairy tale story was strictly banned. Harry personally thought they were overreacting but now Harry doubted that they were really mad seeing they believed a unanimous letter from an owl and this weird stranger pretty readily when he said magic was real.

"His crazy parents guaranteed that he was not like the freaks they were!" Vernon bellowed momentarily forgetting his survival instincts.

Hagrid it seemed was unaffected by the outburst. He looked at Harry thoughtfully and said, "many pure wizard families abandon there children because they are squibs, but not to worry, you are now a proven wizard boy, and here is the proof!" he brandished the letter Harry had got earlier.

"But how do you even know that I am er…this wizard?" Harry asked, curiosity having gotten above his nervousness.

"Hmm…so tell me umm…Harry was it", seeing Harry nod he continued, "did you have any weird things happening around you? Things you can't explain?" he asked watching with a knowing smile as Harry's face transformed from confusion to dawning realization!

"There you go!" Hagrid exclaimed, clapping his burly hands.

But then another thought struck Harry. He turned toward the Dursleys, it finally occurred to him that his parents were wizards too!

"So my parents were wizards too!" Harry wasn't sure if he said that as a question or exclamation. It seems that his parents left him in the doorsteps of the Dursleys only because he wasn't a wizard. His heart leapt up at the thought and the possibility that his parents might accept him again once they know that he was a wizard too. His face was glowing with anticipation at the mere concept of it.

"No you are not the freaks like them!" Vernon shouted, "you are just get a little sick from time to time. You are normal, and you shall remain so. We made sure to beat the weirdness out of you!"

"I knew this day might come. My sister had her day too. My parents were pretty excited with their golden child becoming so 'special'. Only I saw for the freak she really was, only I saw for the sickness she was spreading to our parents too with her silly stories of that accursed school! But our parents were too blinded! That is why they died for it. It was decided ever since you came here. If ever such a letter came for you then I shall make it sure that you never see that place!" Aunt Petunia had come out of the shadow of her husband with her arms tightly folded around her chest protectively as she glared at Harry with naked malice.

Harry was scared with the anger she was excluding but it was already a lost case. Harry had dreamt of this for his entire life. The day when some hint of his parents existence may finally come. The day he would find some clue to their whereabouts. He had prepared for it his entire life. He was not that much of a fool, he knew there must be something lacking in him that made them leave him. Thus he had committed himself to everything he did. He had studied very hard over time. He never did well enough in exams in fear of the rampage he knew Dudley would go through but he had studied nevertheless, just managed to tone down his knowledge in exams. Even doing part of Dudley's homework. He was an excellent cook too, and very good at cleaning. He was always obedient too, but not this time.

"I am going." Harry heard himself say with determination. He would rather die than let this chance go out of his hands.

Aunt Petunia stood their, stunned. Never had Harry ever contradicted her before. He had always listened what she said, always did what she commanded no matter how hard it was for the boy, he always performed. He was like an overeager slave. Now the boy stood there with an expression she never imagined encountering in him before. Defiance.

"Why you…" Vernon made towards Harry but halted immediately when Hagrid suddenly stood up, showing agility that contradicted his size.

"Now, now don't get your pants in a knot over it! The boy has decided. He shall go to Hogwarts." Hagrid said in an exaggerated announcement. "You will love it there!" Hagrid whispered aside at Harry.

"Not while I am alive! We are his guardians and we decide which school our ward shall go and where he wouldn't." Petunia seethed, glaring daggers at Harry, a promise in the air for a particularly grave punishment.

Harry couldn't even bother caring. He was more scared about his aunt succeeding in preventing Harry from going to the wizard school. There was school fees to consider, school supplies, and many other things which just can't happen without the help of his guardians.

"Please Aunt Petunia, Please let me go to the school. I would do anything for you, please!" Harry begged in desperation. A lifetime's worth of longing in those beautiful green eyes that has waited for exactly such a thing to happen. How long had he dreamt of it, how long had he wished for it, the faint hope in him had never truly left the premises of his heart entirely. This was his opportunity at last.

The eyes of Petunia Dursley were decidedly unsure, her nephew had always been so unconsciously strong, never crying, never weakening in front of any punishment she could dish out for him, any beating her husband could shower upon him. To see such a boy suddenly become so pathetic was disconcerting, she never realized he could want his parents so badly.

Vernon took the reins for her. "No, I don't care! You are not going, and that's the last of it. And you!" he pointed his gun towards Hagrid, "get out of here and tell your deranged headmaster or whoever it is you answer to, that the boy isn't coming to that ruddy school!"

A sudden chill spread through the room and Harry knew then and there that his uncle has said something very very wrong.

"One more word..just say one more word about Albus Dumbledore…" Hagrid was shaking with anger as he towered above Vernon who was clutching his very tightly. Hagrid took hold of its barrel and tied it into knot as easily as he would tie a ribbon.

"Enough! You don't want to send him, then so be it, he would go by himself, he doesn't need your help to go Hogwarts! We have our own trust fund to help muggle-born students."

And that was how Harry knew his world is at a change.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry sat at one of the train compartments in the Hogwarts express pressing his face on the window pane casually watching all the wizard families as they came to send off their children. Some parents were crying, some were beaming while some others were trying to act indifferent so as not to make a scene in the crowded platform of nine and three quarters.

Harry was still amazed at the interesting way the wizards handled themselves. The way they hid themselves in midst of all the normal people using magic was a very curious sight indeed.

"Muggles, Harry, they are called muggles." Hagrid had said.

Hagrid had told him a lot of things about this new world. About flying brooms, cunning goblins, majestic dragons and many many more things. Harry didn't make his work any easier though, he was constantly badgering Hagrid with a million questions a minute. Hagrid was trying to be very polite about it. Harry realized he might be irritating the big man no matter how much Hagrid tried to hide it, so Harry had tried to rein his curious mind a little. He was going to a school for it after all. He would learn everything he needed to learn when he gets there. Hogwarts was bound to have some libraries.

Diagon Alley was a sight indeed. Harry had wished for a million heads to take in whole of the sights. The weird shops, the different attires of people, the different creatures and what not. It all seemed like a fairy tale dream to him (he pinched himself several times to check that but he still had his doubts).

When he had all of his school supplies and Hagrid had had his 'top secret' package from Gringotts, the goblin bank, Hagrid had dropped him back in front of the Dursley's house. It took a moment for Harry to realize that Hagrid had most probably forgotten the commotion he created upon leaveng the place last time.

His fears were for nothing though. They were instead totally ignoring him. Dudley was curious but a look from his mother was enough to silence him. Something had happened while Harry had gone. He could never have imagined anyone that could shut up Dudley but then Harry realized that maybe his parents never tried before.

Harry had devoured every book of his course like a starving man in a banquet. He learnt a lot about the wizard world and magic itself. Hagrid had warned him against using magic outside the school therefore Harry had to regretfully stick to theory. But the most startling discovery was about his parents. HIS Parents!

_The most dangerous and darkest of the dark lords ever to terrorize our world had been Lord Voldemort. His powers as a wizard were terrifying! Wizards were scared to even speak his name, the forces he harnessed were tremendous, werewolves, giants, vampires and many other dark creatures were under his command and with them he had the Great Britain under his thumb. The Ministry were impotent against him. Every person who stood against him was soon found dead. No one escaped his wrath save one. Adam Potter managed to defeat the most dangerous Dark Wizard at the tender age of one. His grand parents died trying to protect him when his parents were lured out of the well protected house. No one really knows how the boy managed such a feat when many powerful wizards before him had failed. Rumour has it that he had a squib twin brother too. No one really knows what happened to him. James and Lily Potter deny the existence of such a child altogether but those who knew them even a little couldn't be more sure. Some say he died during the attack. Some say the Potters disposed him off when they realized he was a squib to avoid shame to the family. After all the ancient family of Potters never had a squib child….._

Harry hadn't bothered to read further. It was too painful.

His uncle had dropped him early in the morning for the train without any hassle. Harry was lucky that the station of Kings Cross was on the way to his uncle's office.

He had found his platform quite easily after witnessing another wizard family using the trick wall.

That is how Harry found himself seated in the train to Hogwarts so early in the morning.

It was at the last half hour of the departure that most of the families hurried into the platform. It was at the last ten minutes of departure that the Potter family came into the picture.

x-x-x-x


	3. Chapter 3: Cradle for a Dream

**A\n: Now comes the harder parts. Do tell me if the quality is degrading or when the plot is too boring. **

**Chapter: 3**

**Cradle for a dream**

It was hard to miss them. A sea of redheads coming through the trick wall in a group. At the front were four boys, all laughing and talking very animatedly. Two of them were twins. The other two were as alike as they could be. First one was tall like the twins, his face filled with freckles like that of the twins. The second one was handsome boy who moved with an easy grace. He was less animated of the four as the twins were teasing the other tall boy about something which Harry couldn't hear above the uproar of the crowd. There was a little girl crying in what was sure to be her mother's arms about something while alongside her walked a severe looking boy who was glaring deploringly at the twins from afar. Then came a handsome man with mischievous grin plastered on his face and with him was a man with jet black hair, wearing glasses and a carefree smile. He too walked with a charming grace. Harry knew at a sight, who he was. Harry had a striking resemblance to his father. Behind them walking slowly was Lily Potter.

He felt his heart lurch at the sight of his mother. She was exactly like he had dreamt about for all those years. The fleeting memory of her from his childhood could not do justice to the feeling he was now having when seeing her in reality.

She was beautiful.

She had barely contained tears in her eyes as she walked alongside a man wearing shabby clothes who was consoling her. She was still wearing a proud smile though as she wistfully gazed at the handsome boy at the front.

They stopped in front of the train. The boys with freckles all gathered around the matronly woman who Harry assumed was their mother. They all had their respective hugs and hurried of to get their seats in the train.

Adam Potter stood before his father filled with nervous energy over going to Hogwarts. His father grabbed his shoulders and looked him over with pride filled eyes then pulled him into a tight hug. Harry couldn't help but feel an intense amount of jealousy at him.

James Potter said something to his son who just grinned and nodded. Adam then turned to his mother who spread her arms, inviting her son for hug. Adam didn't disappoint. He ran into the arms of his mother who hugged him warmly, and Harry felt the beasts of jealousy clawed at his insides. The pain was almost physical.

Adam Potter had everything Harry had ever wanted in life.

The look Harry saw in Lily Potter's eyes for her son was too much for Harry.

It took a titanic amount of strength from his side to keep himself from leaping out of the train and meeting his REAL family face to face. He couldn't though. The rejection would be too painful. What was he compared to the great Adam Potter? He defeated the darkest wizard at the age of one. The escapades he had with the Death Eaters were legendary and the followers of the Dark Lord were many.

Lily Potter was the youngest ever Unspeakable in the history. Her job is of the highest profile and well….unspeakable.

James Potter and Sirius Black were the deadly duo of the Auror force. They finished their assigned missions with style and panache as the ministry reports describe it. They were the most sought after and famous Aurors in Great Britain. The Death Eaters still believed that their master was alive and continued to take guidance from a unanimous party which is still unknown to the ministry. It is not surprising therefore that the duo had much work. It was a temperament to their sheer skill that for such a public outing the Potter family needed no protection except for those two. The family after all was on the most wanted list of the Death Eaters after the demise of their master.

Remus Lupin was the most distinguished werewolf in the history of Britain. He was a greatly distinguished scholar.

Together they were all as tightly knit a family as there ever could be. Harry felt like a flea among them. What had he ever accomplished in life to even deserve their notice? He was just a normal boy, who lived on the mercy of his aunt and uncle. He had to become something. He wanted to become great enough, so that when at last the time may come for the confrontation, he could have their respect. So that when at last they have knowledge of him, they would have no shame in acknowledging him. Yes, the wait would be too painful, but the rejection would kill him.

She pulled Adam back from her grasp and talked rapidly with him to which Adam just continued nodding. She smiled at the end of her tirade and kissed his face all over. Harry had to try hard against closing his eyes at the naked love that the family displayed. He had to see. He had to witness what he was missing for the motivation he needed to become a great wizard.

"That is Adam Potter." A feminine voice beside him said, startling Harry from his stupor.

A bushy haired girl was sitting in the opposite seat of Harry. She too was gazing at the Potter family. She and a round faced boy had invited themselves into the compartment when Harry wasn't looking.

She looked back at Harry and then narrowed her eyes. "Why are you crying?" she asked.

"Umm…gazing at a thing for too long dries your eyes too much, I guess." Harry said, thinking fast while trying his utmost to keep his voice steady. He wiped off his tears with his sleeves and brought his emotions back to control.

"Hmph! Why do they worship him so much? It was obvious it was a lucky accident, what happened to him ten years ago!" she said pompously.

Now that Harry had better understanding of his surroundings, he too noticed that almost half the platform was staring at the family. The family it seemed were oblivious to the attention they were getting. Probably too used to all the hype that surrounded them.

When the train blew its warning gong, Adam Potter briefly hugged the nearby two men who accompanied them and ran into the train. He then continued waving to his family until the departed train led him away from their sights.

After one last longing glance at the specs that disappeared into the horizon, he turned back to the girl in his compartment.

"How do you know it was an accident?" Harry asked hoping to break in the silence that filled the compartment when she and another boy who sat beside her were gazing awkwardly at the weird behaviour Harry displayed.

She was quick to bounce back. "Oh come on! How could a one year old boy possibly defeat the most powerful dark wizard ever! Even Albus Dumbledore was unable to completely subdue him. How in common sense could that happen?" she ranted in a rapid tone, glaring annoyingly at Harry as if he was just stupid.

"Umm…with magic?" Harry replied, nervously, intimidated by her enthusiasm.

Her eyes widened. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish without water. It was entirely possible that Adam Potter underwent some unexplainable magical phenomenon that enabled him to defeat the Dark Lord.

"That could be actually possible…." She almost whispered to herself. "It's just that the concept of magic itself is pretty hard to wrap your finger around, isn't it?" she asked Harry.

"Yeah, it was a shock to me as well." Harry replied.

"So you are a muggleborn too?" she asked.

"Yeah, kind of."

"Then you are a pretty smart one aren't you?"

"Umm..How could you say that?" Harry asked inquisitively.

"I can just tell. I am Hermoine Granger and this here is Neville Longbottom. I hope you didn't mind we invited ourselves into your compartment. We wanted to ask permission but you were….distracted ."

"My name is Harry Dursley. Its okay, you are welcome here."

"So, you are a muggleborn too?" Harry asked Neville.

"Umm…no. I am from a wizard family. Although I am barely a wizard."

"Why do you say that?"

"My grandmother thought I was a squib until my great uncle Algie accidentally dropped me from a three storey building. I just bounced around. That was the first time I showed any kind of magic."

"Where were your parents?" Hermione asked. Horrified at the idea of such carelessness toward a child.

"They are umm..gone."

"You mean they abandoned you?" Harry blurted out without thinking.

"No! They are…"

"Oh!" Hermione and Harry both said in unison. They were fast to change topic then. She told them about their parents and Harry told them what his uncle did. Hermione was wise enough not to make the same mistake twice and ask for Harry's parents.

They then wandered off to the school and its curriculum. Hermione was very excited to find out that like her, Harry too had read through almost all of there course books(although not memorized it). They went into a heated discussion on various topics of their course while Neville just stared dumbly at both of them.

Harry was just happy to have some friends. It wasn't long before the topic went into practical applications. Hermione was very excited to try it and quickly got out her wand. She practiced a spell that after some tries and many reviews from her books created a bluebell flame. Everyone muttered their astonishment. Neville was a pureblood which meant he was having informal tuitions for magic since he was eight. Apparently purebloods children were allowed to do magic as long as there is an adult wizard to supervise. Hermione was horrified at the injustice of it to the muggle-borns but Neville was quick to console and tell her that he wasn't any good either way. She didn't look much relieved though. He still managed to do some basic rudimentary spells like turning the skin of his toad yellow.

When it came to Harry's turn, the toad suddenly escaped Neville's grasp and landed on the seat beside Harry. Harry was quick to think of a charm which he had seen many times in his book.

He swished and flicked his wand and cried out, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The toad started floating above the seat. Harry was amazed that he got that in his first try. Hermione and Neville were even more amazed of Harry as they both new it was quite a difficult charm to learn and Harry had tried and succeeded in doing it on a moving object nonetheless!

Just then the door to the compartment opened and none other Adam Potter poked his head in.

"There you are Neville! We had been searching for you all over the train. Where had you been?" He asked in a concerned voice.

Behind him was the tall boy with freckles Harry saw with Adam earlier.

Adam then noticed the floating toad and then at Harry. Their eyes met. Jet black eyes met green. A flicker of some inexplicable sense of recognition crossed Adam's eyes.

Harry had a face too much like his father's, eyes too much like his mother's.

Harry was quick to turn around. He felt the burn of scalding hatred in his stomach, and his concentration ruptured.

The toad fell, Adam was quick. The movements were blindingly fast, before anyone could even fathom what was happening, the toad was once again floating barely inches from the floor of the train. It then floated back to Neville's outstretched hands.

"Take care of your toad Neville, it is always running." He said to Neville without taking his eyes off Harry who was suddenly more interested in the scenery outside.

"Yeah! Thanks Adam. Listen, I would like to be spend more time with my new friends if you don't mind. I would meet you at the station." Neville said, unnerved by the tension in the room.

Adam at last took his eyes from Harry.

"Are you sure? I know the twins can be a bit handful but I can rein them in if you feel uncomfortable around them."

"No thanks, really. Its great here." Neville said.

Adam sighed in defeat and then nodded. "Okay. If that's what you want."

He then turned to Hermione and extended his hand.

"Hi! I am Adam Potter. Nice to meet you."

"Of course we know who you are! You are all over out history books. I am Hermione Granger by the way." She said in excitement after she recovered from her shock of seeing Adam perform magic.

Adam then turned to Harry, who was ignoring him altogether.

"I think it would be polite to introduce yourself." Adam said to Harry who still refused to look away from the running scenery outside.

"Yes, it would be." Harry said without turning around.

"Would you mind introducing yourself then?"

Harry at last turned around. "Yes, I would mind."

The compartment went silent.

"I am Ronald Weasley. Call me Ron though." The tall freckled boy intervened breaking the tension.

"Come on Adam! Don't you see he is too tongue tied in front of the great you to tell his name." he said with a grin plastered on his face.

Everyone stared incredulously at him.

"Come on. He doesn't want to talk to you then don't stalk him for goodness sake! Fred bought some new merchandise from the Zonko's. Let's check out." Ron ranted on dragging Adam out of the compartment as Adam too forgot the momentary weirdness and started on to his own compartment all the while talking with Ron loudly over a number of things.

Hermione was staring at Harry.

"What was that?" she asked him in confusion.

"Don't be jealous of him Harry. He had formal training from his parents and godfather ever since he was four. He has always been too exceptional. It takes some getting used to but he is a nice guy otherwise." Neville told Harry misinterpreting Harry's emotions.

Hermione gave one last sceptical look at Harry who was back to gazing at the outside scenery and then began animatedly talking to Neville.

"But Neville! He was doing non-verbal magic! That is beyond even the sixth year course if I have to hazard a guess. I have read that it takes an immense amount of discipline to harness the magical core into non-verbal spell. It is too hard for even fully matured wizards. Is he more powerful than an adult wizard at such a young age?"

"Actually that pretty much sums it up. His family is pretty crazy about their son's training. You'd think he really was preparing to fight He-who-must-not-be-named in the future!" Neville told her.

And on they went throughout the train ride, wisely ignoring a sulking Harry who didn't want to talk.

Harry was gazing at the wand tightly clutched in his hands now. The words of the wand maker ringing in his mind.

"I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Dursley because after all the owner of its brother wand, He-who-must-not-be-named did great things-terrible, yes but great."

He had said Harry was destined to do great things but Harry realized great things wouldn't just get done for him. He would have to try very hard. After all no matter how great he becomes it would be for nothing if he couldn't surpass his accursed brother. He would have to try harder than he ever imagined before.

He would become a great wizard, greater than anyone so that when he faces his parents at last..they would know to be proud in having such a son, to regret ever leaving him and then they would love him.


	4. Chapter 4: The Road Less Trodden

A/n: **Yes, the Dursleys are Harry's parents in the eyes of law and magic.**

Is the story too depressing? Personally, I love it that way and intended for that effect. I want to give you a fair warning that this is only tip of the iceberg of what I intended for the story. And do tell me if I need a Beta for my grammar. I am too impatient to proofread my work. This is a tad bit simpler and shorter chapter, its fine if you don't like this one, I wrote it in a hurry.

**Chapter 4: The road less trodden.**

Harry had read extensively about it, imagined it from every scrap of detail the books could provide him with but when he actually witnessed it, he knew then that nothing could have prepared him for the magnificence of Hogwarts.

It was beyond anything Harry could have ever dreamt about. The panoramic view of the castle from the lake had left him speechless. Even Hermione had shut up. He knew now why the first years were taken separately to get a better view of the castle. Anyone would fall in love with it at first sight. The building was vast. It was humongous and Harry couldn't even see the end of it.

From cupboard to a castle, irony it is.

But the happiness didn't last long. Rumours were flying around about what tests they would have to endure for entering any of the four houses. Some said they would have to fight a troll, some said they would have to walk on fire. Harry had an attack of anxiety. What if he failed this test? The only time he had ever did magic was once when he was on the train! He didn't try again because he was too depressed after witnessing Adam's display of excellence in magic.

He should have practiced. What was he to do now? What if they realize that he wasn't capable enough to become a wizard? Icy dread filled Harry's heart at the prospect of going back knowing his parents were right all along about him being worthless, knowing that he would then have definite proof of his incapability. Harry felt afraid that he might now fail even before he was allowed any chance to prove himself. Hermione was already whispering to herself about all the spells and charms she had learned and practiced but Harry was too numb with fear to even form any rational thoughts.

When Professor McGonagall explained the frivolities of sorting and how it was to be done, the relief that washed over Harry was enough to last a lifetime. Suddenly there was warmth of relief in his veins and then there was the searing fire of excitement pumping in his heart. He was gong to be a wizard, the best one ever!

Hermione was relieved too, and back to her old self, she was rapidly explaining all those who cared to hear the mechanics of the Great Hall ceiling.

"Hermione!" Harry said with an ear splitting grin on his face, the relief from earlier and sudden realization of the grandeur of the ceiling making him light headed. "Just shut up and enjoy the view will you! We can talk about it later for as long as you want."

For some reason Hermione shut up and started blushing instead.

"What happened?" Harry asked, worried that he might have offended her somehow.

"It's just that…..you should smile more often Harry." She told him through her red face.

"Only if you talk less often!" Harry said giving her a cheeky smile as he turned back his head to hear Sorting Hat sing.

Personally he didn't have any choice of house per say. He had guessed that he might be in Ravenclaw seeing that he loved to read and learn, he imagined it would be Hermione's house as well. Neville might get in Hufflepuff, Harry wouldn't mind getting in that house as well, and they looked fairly cozy in their house tables from where Harry was standing. Nope he wouldn't mind Hufflepuffs at all. He always wondered why everyone thought Hufflepuff was so bad. Gryffindors on the other hand were a jolly lot, but he didn't think he had the courage necessary for getting into that house. He could barely stand on his feet when Dudley and his friends come at him for their punching time let alone fight bravely. Slytherins were downright scary! They had an air of unpleasantness around them. Harry hoped he would not get into that house.

It was time for the sorting to begin and soon Professor McGonagall started calling out names.

Every time a child was selected into any house the housemates clapped vigorously for him. The Gryffindors were loud and boisterous, the Hufflepuffs were soft and eager, the Ravenclaws were humble and the Slytherins held almost a bored applause for some children and enthusiastic celebrations for some. Neville explained to Harry that almost all the Slytherins were prejudiced. They exclusively favoured pure-blood wizards. Before Harry could ask what he meant by pure-blood wizards, his name was called out.

"Dursley, Harry!" Proffesor McGonagall shouted over the chattering of the Great Hall.

Harry walked nervously through the Great Hall, thankful that no one really cared enough to look at him as he moved himself into the stool.

As the Hat dawned upon his head, the last thing Harry saw was the Hall full of children from all four houses at their respective tables chattering animatedly with each other, everything else around him became muffled as the Hat's voice boomed inside his head.

"Hmm," said the voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult."

"Er…" Harry was getting nervous. He was afraid the Hat wouldn't find any specific quality in him and then refuse to sort him.

"Plenty of courage, I see."

"Really?" Harry got the feeling that the Hat might be joking with him. That was possible. A sentient Hat would need something to humour itself after all wouldn't it?

"Not a bad mind either. There's talent, ah my goodness, yes-and a maddening thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting….a worthy Slytherin I think."

"Slytherin?" Harry asked in fear.

"Why not? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help on the way to greatnes, no doubt about that!"

"Really? I mean you really think I could be great?" Harry was blushing furiously! He had never been praised like that before. But the prospect of being a Slytherin was daunting, but if he was to prove himself to his parents someday then he didn't expect it to be that easy. If it takes becoming Slytherin then so be it.

"Got to put you in Gryffindor for that choice itself kid, but I sincerely think you would do better in-SLYTHERIN!" the Hat shouted the last word aloud for all to hear in the Great Hall.

Harry gently took the Hat from his head and put it back on the stool as he headed towards his table. It took some time before he realized he didn't get any applause at all.

He glumly walked across the table to the other end as none were willing to share seat with him. At last he found a seat beside the Slytherin ghost Bloody Baron.

"Hey Dursley! Never heard of your family before, are they from outside?" A senior boy asked him. He had a cruel smirk on his face as he talked which Harry thought was intimidating.

"Umm…no, they are er..Muggles." Harry told him, he was still uncomfortable with the term.

The boy's eyes widened at that.

"A Mudblood?" another boy said in astonishment.

"The Hat sorted a Mudblood into our house!" the first boy shouted for the whole table to hear.

Harry winced at the disgusted glare he was getting from so many people.

They then proceeded to talk like he didn't even exist.

"The Hat must be getting old if he is sorting vermin into our house!" Harry heard one say.

"Yeah it is high time they sew the rip off his mouth!" Everyone laughed at that.

The Bloody Baron was looking oddly at Harry. It wasn't a scary glare but the ghost with all that blood in his clothes looked intimidating either way. Harry had read that ghosts were mostly harmless in theory but Harry didn't want to know if the practicality was any different.

He quickly turned his head and concentrated on the sorting.

Hermione and Neville both went to Gryffindor which made Harry regret his decision even more.

When Adam's name was called out, everyone in the hall went silent. They all were craning their necks to get a better view at the great Boy Who Lived. He was chosen into Gryffindor the moment Sorting Hat touched his head, so was his friend Ron Weasley.

When at last all the first years were sorted into their respective houses, food appeared on the empty plates before the children. A very brief and superbly weird speech from the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was all that remained before everyone started digging in.

Harry was in bliss. The food before him tasted exquisite. The flavours from every morsel was blended in near perfection.

Harry wanted to taste every dish but his housemates refused to even acknowledge his presence let alone pass on food to him. Harry had to make do with the dishes in front of him which was not much considering that he was sitting in the corner most side of the long bench.

Hogwarts suddenly seemed a lot less fun than it felt before as Harry sat gloomily gazing over to his new found friends Hermione and Neville happily chatting and eating to their fill with their housemates.


	5. Chapter 5: The Stubborn Heart

A/n: I looked back on my chapters and realized that I desperately need a Beta. Any volunteers? This may be my last chapter for two weeks. If anyone has the time then please give me house wise list of all the students who ever attended Hogwats. And a list of all the spells would be highly appreciated.

**Chapter 5: The Stubborn Heart**

Harry found himself pressed roughly to the Persian rug on floor of the Slytherin common room. His left hand painfully twisted behind back.

"Hello mudblood. I hope you find our hospitality up to the mark." A voice of a boy in his teens drawled behind him as he slowly came into view.

His name was Marcus Flint. He sat comfortably on the plush armchair in front of where Harry was pinned to the floor. Harry was unable to even see who his attacker was. He was attacked the moment the first years were ushered into the common room. They were using him as an example to tell all first years that how unwise it would be to cross a senior. The fact that he was a contemptuous Mudblood didn't make matters any better.

"You know my father once told me what they did to Mudbloods in the past." Flint continued as he lay comfortably on the recliner with his legs over one arm and his head on the other. "The muggles, as worthless as they were, still managed to scourge off you pitiful lot from themselves with some stupid methods. Do you know what they did to them after that?" he asked whispering conspirationally, loud enough for the whole crowd assembled in the common room to hear. Harry didn't reply though. Neither did Flint care. He was too wound up in the excitement of the story. Harry already had an inkling of what he was to say.

"They castrated the men and burnt them alive on stakes!" Flint told the whole crowd in a steely voice that only added to the horror everyone felt at the revelation.

"Oh! But they were more cruel with the women. They raped them first, cut their breasts off and then burnt them naked on the stake in front of their whole family. Apparently a witch was more dangerous than a wizad in their eyes. Imagine that!" A few seniors sniggered. But more than half of the first years were too horrified to even speak.

"But the fun doesn't end there!" He said with a flourish in his voice as he raised his voice. "Some were foolish enough to resist. There were thumbscrews for that. Do you know what they were for? It was used to slowly crush every one of your fingers until the person in question relented and told them that he was magical himself. Oh! Of course there was crucification for the more stubborn lot!"

The whole room was silent, most of them had heard about the terrible fates the Mudbloods bore in the medieval age. To be reminded of such a thing was enough to instil terror in all first years.

"What do say we enact some punishments, just for old time's sake?"

All the seniors cheered while the ashen faces of the first years amply revealed what was going on in their minds.

"Now let me see." Flint jumped off his seat as he bent until his face was hovering above Harry's pinned up head.

Harry's heart was hammering wildly. His face was as red as tomato with fear and the terror of what may come.

"Hmm. We don't have thumbscrews here, so that's out of the question." Flint said with the hands on his chin pondering the possibilities aloud for everyone to hear. "We can't really burn you on the stake either. As fun as it would be to hear you scream, I don't think the teachers would approve of a boy burning alive on Hogwart grounds. Crucification is too much of a mess to deal with. Hmm. Then all there left is castration!"

There was collective gasps from all over the room at that. Harry felt invisible hands strangling his throat in sheer shock.

"Yes! That is perfect! Surely no one would care to look if young Dursley here has got any balls left would they? And you here wouldn't dare to tell on us would you?" Flint's face was crafted into an ugly sneer.

Harry's face was suddenly a white sheet in stark terror.

"Loose his pants! Lets see if the boy has some balls to be cut off!" Flint ordered a boy on his right as another handed him a beautiful dagger engraved with expensive stones and a skull at the end of the hilt.

Some seniors were sniggering at the senseless joke as the others were transfixed by the unreal show they were getting. A first year was going to be castrated in front of them.

Harry's face was a pathetic mess of tears at the humiliation of it all as his mind furiously worked into overdrive for something, anything that would get him out of here.

As they loosened his pants, Harry suddenly had an epiphany. At the Diagon Alley he had nicked a book on Curses and Counter curses without Hagrid noticing. Hagrid was against it and would not spend the school money on something Harry wasn't expected to learn until later stages of his second year. Magic had more than waving wand after all. It was all supposed to be very difficult for a first year to learn.

Harry was so fascinated by it that he had to get a copy. Hoodwinking Hagrid wasn't that hard of a job either way. He felt very guilty later but was thankful for it now.

Spells were very difficult to master in the earlier stages of the introduction of magic to people. Intense concentration upon any of the twenty four ancient runes was needed to cast any spell. The intent, amount of concentration, influx of magic were all basic requirements for casting a spell. Charms were even harder. Transfiguration was comparatively easy on theory but required greater amount of practice than anything else. The extreme use of the reversal of these twenty four ancient runes was what comprised of the Dark Arts.

Harry had to concentrate really hard on Hagalaz the rune of chaos to be ready for the spell he had in mind. He quickly reached for the wand in his robes that they hadn't bothered to take and shouted, concentrating with all the magic he could.

"Sonus!"

There was an extremely loud bang. Everyone instinctively recoiled away from Harry at the noise.

Harry clutched his pants and put them back on as fast as physically capable under the duress of the after-effects of the noise which had his eyes burning and ears ringing furiously.

Harry stumbled away from the group and ran clutching his half worn pants to the dormitories of the Slytherin first years. No one was in a state to stop him, stunned by the noise as they were.

The Slytherin dormitories as explained in the History of Magic books were clearly designed with luxuary in mind rather than social interactions. Whereas other houses had rooms for groups of children, encouraging children to make friends and interact with each other the Slytherin section had separate rooms for each student.

Harry ran for all he was worth noting the name before each room as he passed the corridors. Flint and his crooks were hot on his trail.

At last Harry found his room. His trunk and belongings were already there, probably by magic. He ran into his room and locked the door behind him.

Heart beating wildly he leant on the door as struggled to calm his mind.

Flint and his group were before the room now.

"Come on, come on Dursley. I promise it won't be as painful as it seems. Being an enuch isn't half as bad as it seems." There was chuckling outside.

Harry didn't bother with a reply.

There was banging on the door then some tried brute to open the door forcefully but the doors of Hogwarts wasn't clearly that fragile.

"Get aside you idiots! Alohamora! " shouted Flint.

Of course there was a spell to open locked doors. Why wouldn't there be!

But nothing happened, Harry felt his heart suddenly at a stand still as he waited for the door to unlock. But it didn't.

"Damn! I thought Snape was joking when he told us he would be fortifying the rooms. Guess he had long suspected our involvement in the missing things!" Flint said in frustration.

"I hear he is a Legilimens!" another boy commented.

"Really that would explain. Got to be careful around him from now on."

The voices started fading away as the group went away realizing that it was useless to try getting Harry out right now.

Harry at last gave out a strangled sigh as he slid down to the floor and clutched his knees tightly to his chest as he sobbed desperately.

It was too much. Harry didn't know if he would even survive the first weeks of Hogwarts. He had half the mind go back to Professor Dumbledore and request for his return into the Muggle world.

But then the image of his mother from the station flew to his mind.

It was hopeless. He would never give up. He could never give up. He would try no matter what. Harry never had a choice to begin with in this matter. His stubborn heart would never stop trying.


	6. Chapter 6: Soul ignited

**A\n: as per your request, i have posted a longer chapter. tell me if it is boring. i have never written an action sequence before this and there is one at the end. please tell me if it is good. this would be my last chapter for two weeks.**

**Chapter 6: The Soul Ignited**

Harry was awake the earliest most of the time as he rushed into any unused empty classroom with his truckload of books and started his intense personal training with magic. Now that he was freely able to use magic, he wasn't going to waste a single second. He planned to improve.

Harry found out the hard way that almost all Slytherins were ruthless. They pointed and laughed at him when in class, no doubt reminiscing about the humiliation from his first day. Harry had never let any of them catch him off-guard again. He was very careful with his schedule. Mornings were devoted to his self study of magic. He was the first one in a class and the first one out of one too. They never got a chance to corner him. Rest of his free time was spent in the library. No one dared create disturbance in the library under Madam Pince's nose.

Every day was like a hunt for Harry. Where he was the prey and they were the wolves waiting for any and every opportunity to corner him. He had to plan every one of his days according to his schedule to escape their clutches. Slytherins were known to be cunning after all, Harry was required the tedious task of outwitting them.

Be as it may, the humiliations he suffered were almost unbearable. He was effectively nicknamed the Mudblood by all. The Slytherins were hated by all other houses therefore he didn't have much chance of making any friends outside his house either. The only people sociable with him were Hermione and Neville.

They often met in libraries and whenever they had classes together. They were a bit of social pariah too. Hermione, was very smart but had trouble making any friends and she easily scares of any potential candidate with her overabundance in knowledge. Neville on the other hand was plain clumsy. His total lack of confidence was his downfall. He had friends in Adam and his gang but he doesn't like the lot for some weird reason. Harry and Hermione talked extensively over a variety of topics while Neville sat aside with a perplexed look on his face. Harry had taken up the strenuous mantle to train Neville appropriately over the ways of magic. It was at times frustrating but Harry was very patient.

The lessons itself on the other hand were a delight.

Astronomy was a subject focusing on building the basis of magic. The stars it seemed held a heavy impact on the workings of magic. It was very important to study the appropriate star alignment for every constellation which would aid a wizard in later years on a number of rituals and usage of ancient runes. Herbology was essentially the study of magical and non-magical plants and herbs. It held the basis for Potions and Healing not to mention a number of magical rituals. History of Magic was a waste of time. It was just the teaching of a bunch of facts about the past of the wizarding world. Moreover it was taught by a ghost. It was one of the classes that had Slytherins with Gryffindor. Harry always bunked that class much to the irritation of Hermione who saw no reason to skip classes even though the class was so boring. Neville always covered up for Harry and frankly Professor Binns never even noticed. The real reason Harry didn't want himself in that class was because there wasn't any real teacher to supervise the class. He wouldn't know what his housemates would dish up for him under the absence of strict authority. Charms was a little complicated subject that required more imagination, creativity and practice than simply cramming up the theory. But they hadn't reached upon actual magic in the classes yet. Professor Flitwick was making them practice basic wand movements for different charms that were essential for further studies. The class wasn't supposed to move forward until all of them had mastered the movements. Harry was the best in it but didn't try to show off. He knew how infuriated bullies could be to geeks. If nothing Dudley had at least taught him that one valuable lesson.

Transfiguration was good though. It required intense concentration and almost realistic imagination to mould a substance by magic into another substance. There wasn't any complicated wand movements for it. There wasn't any summoning of ancient runes for aid in the magic which they had to just cram without knowing their actual properties to do other spells. Transfiguration was just using pure, raw magic. It required immense practice and skill. There sure were the essential laws of Transfiguration to consider which were many and sometimes quite complicated but otherwise the subject itself was fun. Transfiguration was supposed to be the more dangerous and complex forms of magic but that is what made it more fun.

Harry was already changing the toothpick into a metallic needle and back into toothpick on his very first try. He made it sure that McGonagall didn't notice.

Defence against the Dark arts was a joke. But the weirdest thing was that Harry always felt an intense pain to the scar on his head whenever Professor Quirell turned his back to the class. It was frustrating and Harry doubted that he might be a little allergic to garlic. The room reeked of garlic.

Harry often went to Hagrid's hut in the school grounds for a friendly chat with Hagrid. In time he had grown very attached to the giant man. He was vey kind and soft unlike his rock hard cakes. Hagrid always welcomed him with delight.

Potions class was plain weird. Snape exclusively favoured Slytherins. That meant that the Gryffindors who took their classes with them were often ridiculed and harassed by the Professor. Especially Neville. The weirder thing was that he all but ignored the very presence of Adam in the class. What was more weird was that Harry was sure he sensed some hostility against himself in the Professor's eyes. Even though he was a Slytherin.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," Professor Snape had begun in his first class. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word-like Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses..I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death-if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Harry always sat with Neville and Hermione when the Slytherins had classes with Gryffindors and he could see from his peripheral vision that Hermione was at the edge of her seat, desperate to prove that she wasn't a dunderhead.

It was Harry though that he attacked.

"Dursley!" said the Professor suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"Er…Draught of the living dead?"

The must have been correct because the Professor moved on to the next question.

"Where would you look if I told you to find me a Beozar?"

That was easy. "Stomach of a goat sir." A few students sniggered at that thinking it was a joke but the potions teacher didn't show any reaction as he moved on to the next question.

"What is the difference between monkwood and wolfsbane?"

"Urm.. I think they are the same."

Professor Snape quickly turned around to other students.

"Well? Why aren't you all copying it down?"

Everyone began quickly scribbling into their parchments. Harry started to sit and note down his share of the work.

"Dursley! Did I ask you to sit?" Harry immediately stood up again, utterly confused.

"Umm.. no sir."

"Disobedience is not tolerated in my class Dursley! You should know that if you want to stay in this class. Merely cramming the facts wouldn't be enough to be good at potions. It takes immense discipline. Sit down!"

Harry quickly sat down dejectedly as he started scribbling down the notes. Was he this strict with all of them. He had heard that Professor Snape was very lenient with the Slytherins, that rule it seems doesn't apply to Harry. He mused that it must be because he was a muggle-born. Even the teachers it seems have prejudices.

Hermione was furious.

"You should complain about him Harry! Its one thing he favours Slytherins unconditionally, why does he have to isolate you among all? Its not like you did something wrong! Did you?" she said when they were sitting in the library together for group study.

Harry shook his head negative.

"Forget it Hermione. It seems like he saw at firs sight my infinite wisdom and deemed it right to openly challenge me. It is all in good fun!" Harry said with a grin.

Hermione huffed and swatted his hand.

"Ow! Hey, at least I am trying my best to divert his attention from poor Neville here. He was about to swallow the boy whole and spit out his bones!" Harry said wrapping his arm around Neville's neck.

"Its not a joke Harry. I am sure he hates me!" Neville moaned.

"Of course not Neville, he is just encouraging you to work harder!" Hermione told him.

"Yeah! Professor is a great cheerleader Neville, you would see it someday when you become as great as him." Harry told him in mock consolation. All three laughed at the image of the scary Professor in skirt and puffs in hand, that is until Madame Pince put a stop to it.

X-X-X-X

Draco Malfoy was a git. Everyone knew that, but he wasn't even half as bad as Flint and his goons. Harry could rate the trio of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle naughty compared to Flint and his gang which included Miles Bletchley, Terrence Higgs, Urquhart, Vaisey, Bole and Derrick who were rated in Harry's mind as pure Evil.

It was the morning of the day when the Slytherins were to attend their first flying lessons with Gryffindors. Neville had got his Remembrall. Malfoy had shown interest and snatched it from Neville but Adam and Ron were quick to stand up for a fight but the matter was quickly resolved with the timely intervention of Professor McGonagall. Harry had doubts that Malfoy would leave it at that.

But he didn't care one bit if Neville lost his Remembrall. Neville was miserable the whole day, partly with the nervousness in attending the flying lessons and partly in frustration that every time he squeezed his Remembrall, he found out that he was forgetting something. Neville was always forgetting something, Harry personally thought it was rather cruel to make him realize every time that he is forgetting something just for him to fail in recalling the very thing he forgot.

The lessons were going fine. Harry had managed to get hold of the broom in his first try itself.

Then it happened. Neville jumped the whistle for flying and his broom lost control only for him to fall off the broom from twenty feet height. Harry could have stopped his fall in time only if he had his wand with him. Unfortunately flying lessons required to keep your wands away.

Neville was instantly escorted by Madame Hooch to the hospital wing for a broken arm but not before leaving a warning that if they ever left the ground to fly in her absence then they would surely be rusticated.

Most Slytherins were immune to such threats. Their parents were in high places in society which gave them quite a lot of liberties and leverage. As was the case of Malfoy, whose father was one of the governors of magical education.

Therefore it wasn't a surprise to Harry when Malfoy started taunting Adam with the Remembrall that had fallen off from Neville's robe due to his little stunt before.

Malfoy had taken off to air. His gloating wasn't for nothing. He was at ease with the broom.

"Give it here Malfoy!" Adam shouted as he took off on his own broom. If Malfoy was good on the broom then Adam was brilliant, Harry observed with grit. He sincerely hoped Madame Hooch would arrive any minute and expel them both from the school. Hermione was trying desperately to warn Adam but he refused to listen. Oh well! His loss. Harry wondered if his parents would love Adam as much after he manages to rusticate himself from the school. Harry would surely have a path open then when becomes a great wizard and come in front of his parents while his brother sulked in his uselessness.

Malfoy threw the crystal Remembrall into the air when Adam threatened to knock him off his broom. Adam was quick as a hawk on the broom. Everyone was in amazement at how natural he was at flying. With a perfect dive in a very steep slope to a flawless catch. He manoeuvred the old school broom with finesse.

"Adam Potter!" Professor McGonagall was running towards the clapping and cheering crowd and Harry was happy to see the pale face of Adam Potter. It was dream come true! Caught by the Head of House herself. Adam would never get out of it!

Hermione was frantic with fear that Professor McGonagall would dock points from Gryffindor for this. Harry too hoped it wouldn't come to that. He hoped Adam would get expelled right away. Neville too was worried to see his childhood friend in trouble but Harry was too happy!

X-X-X

Harry was sulking spectacularly by the end of the day. Adam got off with nothing. NOTHING! No detentions, no suspensions, not in the least an expulsion! He glared at Adam silently who was talking in merriment with his gang on the Gryffindor table. So much for the great Boy Who Lived! Malfoy too was sulking on the other side of the table.

Harry later found out that Malfoy has challenged Adam and Ron for a midnight duel in the trophy room from a whining Hermione who couldn't understand why they were so intent in sabotaging any chances of Gryffindors ever winning the housecup.

"Leave it alone Hermione! Let them do what they want. You can always cover for the points they loose n the classes."

"You would say that of course! Its your house that has been winning the Housecup for seven years in running." She said with narrow eyes.

Harry sighed at the endless competitive spirit his friend exhibited.

"Come on Hermione! You know me better than that," he said but then added as an after thought, "don't you?"

"I am going to stop them tonight, come hell or heaven." She declared stubbornly.

"Please don't get involved with their lot Hermione!"

But she wasn't listening. She rushed out of the library, in fury.

Harry sighed in hopelessness.

X-X-X

Neville was a rich pureblood. He was the member of one of the ancient families in magical Britain. He wasn't spoilt but when he requested for a pair of two way mirrors from his family, you could be damn sure he would get them. He was worried about Harry all alone in the Slytherin dormitories so he wanted to have some kind of contact with him. A friend of Neville suggested this method. They had been using this ever since for late night talks with each other.

When that night Neville called him, Harry thought he might be bored in the hospital wing and needed a chat.

Neville told him that he forgot his password and was stuck outside with Hermione who couldn't get in either because the Fat Lady that guarded their common room had gone for a night time stroll.

Hermione it seemed had decided to follow Adam and Ron and stop them from breaking the school rules and had ended up breaking the rule herself. Harry cursed under his breath as he got out of his bed and quickly got out of the Slytherin common room. Harry had a lot of free alone times as he was not as inclined with the homework as Hermione. He already knew the concept and frankly that was all he cared about. He knows full well that he would not be scoring good marks in the exams so why try buttering the teachers? It was due to this precise reason that Harry wandered from time to time alone through the Hogwart corridors in search of empty places for peacefully practicing magic. In his quest he was made aware of about a number of shortcuts and hidden pathways in the expanse of the castle. He knew a lot of hiding places where he can escape the bullying Slytherins, he knew a lot of alternate routes with which he can avoid crowded ways and he definitely knew a lot of ways to reach a place faster.

Harry was going to save them now.

He had reached in time to usher the whole lot of people regretfully including Adam and Ron into the third corridor helping them escape the eyes of Filch.

When at last they heard Filch leave, Harry spun around and glared menacingly at Hermione.

Hermione huffed and glared right back.

"What? I can't have them breaking the rules like that so carelessly now can I?" she explained.

"Yeah! It was worth the expulsion that could have followed!"

They glared at each other and were about to start what was promising to look as a long bout of argument but was interrupted by Neville.

"Umm…guys? I think we have better things to look out for."

They both looked at the pale faces of Adam, Ron and Neville. Then they looked at what they were looking at.

"Oh my god!" a silent scream escaped from Hermione, the sentiment was shared quite accurately with others.

It took blind luck, fast reflexes and unreal recovery time from the shock of seeing a three headed dog to escape that beast.

Ron was furious that the teachers would keep such a dangerous beast in a school with students, Hermione pointed out that he was protecting something that was inside the trapdoor under the beast.

"It must be something very important. Hogwarts is even more safe than Gringotts!" Adam told them.

Harry had his own suspicions but he chose to remain silent on them. Instead he focused on the shivering Neville.

"Get a hold of yourself Neville, I bet Professor Snape is still scarier."

Neville replied with a feeble smile.

"It is strange to hear a Slytherin insult Snape." Adam said to Harry.

Harry ignored him completely. Not even bothering to look at him.

When they reached to part their ways, Harry looked pointedly at Hermione.

"I know, I know. I wouldn't be bothered with their foolish adventures again." Hermione said in exasperation, admitting defeat.

"Hey! We are standing right here." Ron told them.

Harry said nothing as he turned back towards the Slytherin common room.

X-X-X

An exhausted Harry scrambled through the dungeons to the Slytherin common room. The sight that greeted him, stopped him in his tracks.

The whole of Flint's gang was there, playing a late night game of Exploding Snap. Harry stood still, not moving. He desperately hoped that they wouldn't notice him.

Damn! Luck never sided him.

He ran for his life as all of Flint's gang followed him outside the Slytherin house. Harry was fast, but they were quickly gaining on him. They knew most of the passages far better than Harry, their athletic figures were never tiring and Harry was getting tired after his escapades from before. His only hope was that he may somehow stumble upon Filch or one of the teachers, a detention was better than something Flint and his gang could dish out.

Harry ran, panting furiously as he dodged the turns where one of them suddenly appears from a short cut before him.

At last he found Filch!

He stood there, Filch stared at him. He stared back. Then came Flint and his gang. They stopped too.

"Get out of here Filch!" Flint told him, flipping a Galleon at him.

Filch deftly caught the coin.

"Enjoy your night!" He said, picking up Mrs Norris and strolling away.

Harry stared at the retreating figure of the caretaker and then back at the group of boys who were smirking menacingly at Harry.

He was trapped.

"Well, well its been a long time mudblood. You seem too busy for spending time with us don't you?" Flint said.

"Hey look! Isn't this where the brooms are kept?" Urquhart commented.

Flint looked around, "It sure is! Hey I know, since its been so long since we met our Little mudblood, why not play a game with him!"

"Really? What do you suggest Flint?" Terrence asked.

"Hmm.. Derrick, Bole you said you wanted someone to practice your beater skills didn't you?" Flint asked.

Both Derrick and Bole had a look of delight in their faces.

"So that's settled! We could use some beater training too, don't we guys?" Flint asked everyone who cheered excitedly in unision.

Harry was confused. Beater training? Were they going to take tuns in beating him?

"Let's go!" Flint commanded.

Urquhart and Vaisey both roughly held Harry's shoulders and dragged him to the broom shed. They all waited there, that's when Harry realized Terrence was no longer with the group anymore. After fifteen minutes, Terrence returned with the key and the brooms of his comrades to the brooms shed. Of course they had a fake key to the brooms shed!

X-X-X-X

Harry had never seen a Quidditch match before, he never cared for it. he didn't even know what was happening as he was surrounded by all in their brooms and a small bat in each of their hands. Harry was afraid that they would be beating him up with the bats. But then Bletchley and Bole came carrying a box which was shaking strangely. They openend the box and unleashed two balls which seemed to be straining against their bonds. As soon as they were released, the crazy balls shot up in the air zigzagging and then to Harry's horror tuned towards him.

A ball struck at his stomach and another struck at his chest with force that felt like a man had puched him roughly.

Harry spat out blood and turned towards the ball which were returning to strike him again but Flint struck it with the bat and it flew off to another direction.

"Don't worry, you would get a lot of it, I just didn't want you to be tired even before you mount your broom. You see, we wanted something to target the Bludgers on to improve the accuracy of our Beaters. I don't think a stationary mudblood would be much of a target, but," Flint said throwing an old broomstick at Harry, "a flying mudblood to practice hitting would be just perfect!"

Harry looked at the worn out broomstick. It was very old and some of the twigs struck out at odd angles. Harry had never flown before. The only little instruction he ever had about flying was from Madame Hooch and that too was incomplete as she was interrupted by Neville's accident. He was suddenly very afraid with the heights. What if he slid off the broom?

"I bet a mudblood like you would never have been on a broom, but that's not a concern, you just got to get hit by the bludgers, that's all." Flint told him. Every one laughed at that except Harry who was shaking all over.

Everyone took off to air and only Harry was left back who was too nervous to try.

"Come on! Get your arse in the air you filthy mudblood!" someone shouted from the air and aimed the Bludger at him. Harry barely dodged the projectile before mounting the broom and taking to the air carefully. Suddenly, Harry felt alighted. A joyous feelin encompassed him as he knew then and there that flying on the broom would become his favourite thing in the world from then and there. It was so wonderful to be in air! He realized he doesn't need to learn this at all! This was the best thing in the world. Now he knew what all the hype about Quidditch was.

He felt the Bludger at him again, but this was a different terrain all together. He was the master of the sky. He moved an inch and the Bludger moved past him. Another came and Harry dodged it too!

Flint was furious at the Beaters of his team. If they can't even hit a flying first year who was on his broom the first time ever then how were they expected to play in a real game!

But then soon he realized it wasn't the fault of his beaters. Harry was simply that good. He dodged and dived from fifty foot heights like a professional on a Nimbus. Everyone from all around Harry was trying to hit Harry with the Bludgers but Harry was too fast for them. He took seemingly impossible turns to dodge the rampaging balls with unbelievable efficiency!

Flint was furious! A mudblood first year was beating them in their own game. As were his friends. They quickly discarded hitting the balls and dived at Harry with the bats itself to bit him into pulp.

Most of the Slytherins were from a rich pureblood family. Each of them had at the least a Cleansweep 7 or a Comet two sixty. They were fast and Harry's skill was not enough to compensate with the abysmal quality of his broom. Harry was hit on the face with the bat by one of them quite hard.

Harry felt blood oozing out of his nose. As he saw that he was surrounded again with all seven looking down at him with disgust and playing casually with their respective bats. His broom was no match for theirs, he knew at least that much about brooms. He looked down at the worn out piece of wood he was sitting upon. These brooms could only be flown by a wizard, which meant that it sapped the magical energy from the wizard itself to keep itself afloat. Harry realized that everyone of them had to keep at least one of their hand on the broom which meant that like wands they sucked magic from their wands. The hands, the feet and the head were the major outlet of magic from the bodies of a wizard. Harry had read extensively about that from the library. Almost all the appliances in the wizarding world made use of this information for its working. It was the basics of magical anatomy of the wizards. Harry at once had the epiphany of what he was to do.

Every one watched in puzzlement as Harry nervously stood up on his broom.

"Decided to jump and end your worthless life have you mudblood." Flint spat at Harry. But Harry was in another world altogether. A figure wearing worn out tracksuit with several broken teeth and a crazy smile filled his mind. He was smiling in pride at Harry. A wave of agony filled his heart but Harry bravely pushed the feeling away.

When he opened his eyes again at the puzzled faces of his attackers, they saw a fierce light in his eyes, not of magic but of something deeper, something more primal.

Harry bent down and stood sideways on his broom.

"Just like a snowboard." He muttered to himself and flew up at blinding speed.

Surprised but still sane at the little boy who has clearly gone crazy, the septet followed with renewed vigour to beat him into crap. But this wasn't the same Harry anymore.

Harry dived back at them, standing with bent knees on his broom and a hand on the handle to keep balance. He was fast as light.

He flew between the gaps around the seven with invincible skill, those who tried to beat him with the bat only met thin air.

He flew past them without a graze and the skidded the broom to halt behind them just like he would stop a snowboard. He then stood confidently on the broom gazing at the gawking players of Slytherin Quidditch team. His eyes spewing a fierce challenge at all those who wanted to harm him.

They leapt at Harry with determination. Harry took outside the stadium. They easily kept up with Harry, but could never even touch the air around him.

Flint attempted a hit at the back of Harry's head but Harry sensed it, the bat slid from under Harry as he spun his broom above himself. He rolled above Flint, the bat going through below his head. Wide eyes filled with amazement met eyes as fiery as the sun.

Harry straightened himself behind Flint and took off in another direction. Taking a sharp turn which the other Slytherins had thought impossible on a broom like that. Nevertheless they followed, a part of them realized the grace with Harry flew, another part were disgraced at the existence of a mudblood that has defeated them in their own sport with his weird techniques. They followed him with vengeance in mind.

Harry soon reached the highest tower, they follower him closely. Higgs and Bletcheley were just behind him. Suddenly when they had just about reached the top tip of the tower, Harry disappeared before their very sights. Others saw, slack jawed as Harry took hold of the tip of the tower and spun himself around, changing his direction in a flash. Centripetal force kept the broom stuck at his feet. Harry dived right before them and reached for the school entrance. But this time no one followed. All of them stood transfixed, just watching the little boy as he jumped down to the ground as soon as he was near enough to the land, grazing his knees in his hurry as he fell to the ground, but he got up just as fast and scrambled through the front entrance into the castle limping, the broom left discarded.

Harry hadn't realized that the seven boys of the Quidditch team who had won the cup for seven years in a row for their house had stopped following him.


	7. Chapter 7: Hunted and Haunted

**A/n: Sorry for the short chapter but it seems that whatever good the last six chapters had made on my writing skills are undone through the short interval I left, so I would have to start all over again. I promise I would update as frequently as I can and reach the level of posting 10k chapters as soon as possible. Though I would very much like to know if this chapter is good enough too but somehow I don't care as it is basically a filler side story that I felt was prudent for character development. I would still appreciate the reviews about it though.**

**Chapter 7: Hunted and Haunted**

In the middle of a ravenous storm, a boy was struggling through the snow. The restless winds gave him no reprieve. Neither sight nor warmth was granted to him as he moved with tremendous will through the white canopy, without a goal in a faint hope that his agony may end soon. Either in death or in a shelter.

Seven year old Harry at last found the glimpse of a cottage, with smoke rising from the chimney, with a promise for comforting warmth. With a goal in view, he quickened his pace by a fraction. The ruthless nature was still too strong a force for him to fight.

X-X-X

Joseph Fernandez had told Harry one too many times to call him Jo. It was cooler.

Harry had always wondered why he wanted to be cooler in these chilly winter times.

Jo had found him on the doorsteps in tattered clothing and wounds all over. How he managed to survive the ruthless storm was a mystery, a miracle no doubt.

Harry's first memory of Jo was of a grinning old man holding a warm cup of hot chocolate.

The grin had many teeth to spare, his eyes had many years of wear, his head had barely there hair, yet Harry felt an immense closeness to him, such was his enigmatic leer.

He was snowboarding legend once. Why he stopped Harry was never told.

"Don't be a slave kid! You are my boy now, live with your head high. Boarding would make you the man." He had said.

And Harry had learned in three months. He was talented no doubt but Jo was pretty serious about his sport..he never praised Harry yet there was pride in his eyes, love in his act and warmth in his company that Harry had longed until then.

He never asked about his family again, Harry had told him that they might not even notice he was gone and definitely wouldn't miss him.

Jo had believed him.

But then as fate would have it, misery came.

There were hundreds around with all kinds of weapons surrounding the cottage.

"Come out you scoundrel! Have you no shame! Kidnapping children for your selfish purposes." Someone had shouted.

Jo had told Harry to remain inside.

Harry hadn't listened.

He ran out to them explaining desperately that he was there by his own choice.

None heard the boy. They all thought that Jo had bewitched him, like Jo's wife and daughter had bewitched Jo. They had executed them for their witchery. They would now rectify the mistake and kill the one they previously thought to be innocent.

Harry desperately tried to wrench himself free from his captors, but what was a boy to do against adults?

Then it happened.

A tremendous force lit inside Harry that unleashed a shockwave which threw those around him backwards.

There was silence around them. Every one of them, Harry included were stunned by this strange anomaly.

When Harry had looked at Jo, he had seen a very painful expression in his face.

A man with a ragged face had come forward.

"Boy, are you…."

Loud laughter filled the area.

Jo was laughing hard.

"See, it was a success! I bewitched him!"

The statement seemed to have broken the stupor out of the crowd gathered there.

"That's right he is the real culprit! He was the one who made his wife and daughter like that too!" Someone shouted.

X-X-X

Harry had cried, shouted, pleaded but no one seemed to listen. They all thought he was possessed.

They held him down. He didn't want to see yet something inside stopped him from tearing his eyes off that heart wrenching scene.

No one thought enough to close the eyes of the child who was witnessing such a horrible side of humanity. No one thought enough to keep his pain away.

He felt numbness in him as he helplessly watched the man burn away upon a stake.

Jo had kept on laughing until the end. The wind was blowing fast, he was denied the death from suffocation. He was made to die slowly as he felt every part of his body ashen away but still he laughed as if he was in a party.

The echoes of his laughter reverberated through the very soul of Harry, ever since.

X-X-X

Harry woke up from his bed panting heavily. The sun outside told him he was terribly late for his classes.

He scrambled off his bed, leaving behind dark blotches of blood on the white sheets from his wound on the knee.

He wasn't even able to dress up properly. His heart was on a rampage. Every part of his body was shaking wildly from the tremors that came from his chest.

After several failed attempts, he surrendered his efforts in frustration. He threw away his uniform and slid to the ground. He felt tears flowing freely from his eyes.

Why? After so long?

He had tried so hard to suppress those memories. He thought he had, he hoped he had forgotten it. He realized it now that he could never run away from them.

The memories shall continue to hunt him, the spirit of Jo would continue to haunt him.


	8. Chapter 8: Troll trials

**A/n: I am very sorry about the shoddy chapter earlier and I sincerely tried to improve. I really hope this chapter is better although this must be the hardest chapter of all I have written so far.**

**Chapter 8: Troll trials**

The next few weeks were pure agony for Harry. The nightmares continued to haunt him. Hermione and Neville were worried but Harry refused to give an explanation.

Harry had wished that night with Flint and his gang would never have happened. The feelings of a broom even exceeded that of being on a board. The only good thing that came out of it was that his bullies now avoided him like the plague.

Halloween morning came slow for Harry as he woke up from another fitful sleep. It was a blur of activity for Harry.

"Where is Hermione?" Harry asked Neville when they met up at the Halloween feast.

"She is in the girls bathroom, crying." Neville said glumly.

"Why? What happened?"

"It seems that Ron said something to her that hurt. So she locked herself in the bathroom for the whole day. She refuses to even talk to me!" Neville said in frustration.

"That prat!" Harry seethed in annoyance. "Come on, let me talk to her then."

"Cheer her up Harry. She is been insufferable all day."

X-X-X

"Come on Hermione! Open up, or I swear I would blast the whole door open. I know the spell now!" Harry bellowed, kicking at the door furiously.

"Get lost! I don't want to talk to anyone." Hermione said between her sobs.

"Okay! That's it I am blasting the door off, stand back Neville."

"Don't you know the meaning of the words Get Lost!" Hermione shrieked as she wrenched open the door to find Harry ready to cast a spell.

Her face was puffy from crying all day. Her eyes was red. She looked positively pathetic.

"Not when you didn't know the meaning of 'stop being a crybaby" Harry retorted.

Hermione looked like she was ready to punch him but Neville interrupted their row.

"Hey Harry! I think the ground is shaking." Neville said doubtfully.

Hermione and Harry felt it too, the ground was indeed shaking.

"Earthquake?" Hermione asked to no one in particular.

Just then Adam and Ron stumbled into the toilet. They were panting heavily.

"What do you want?" Harry asked bitterly.

"Tr….Trolls!" Adam squeezed through the words between his heavy breaths.

"What! There are no trolls in Hogwarts. Are there?" Hermione asked nervously to Harry.

"Look Hermione! I am sorry for before okay! Now lets get out of here before the trolls find us." Ron said at last saving his breath at last for the words.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "That's not…."

But Harry never completed what he was to say as the tremble in floor grew marginally and just then two trolls appeared at the doorway.

Hermione gave out a terrified shriek. Neville was on the verge of fainting over.

Adam and Ron scramble over to the other side away from the doors with the others.

The trolls had seen them.

They tried to squeeze in together. But the doorway was barely enough for even a single troll. They kept on trying stupidly though.

Cracks appeared on the arch around the entrance to the toilet. It was not hard to guess the seconds left for the group to survive.

"Whatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedo…." Hermione went on ranting.

Neville was as pale as a sheet and looked like he would fade away any second.

Adam took control.

"Stupefy!" He shouted.

It hit the troll on the left, right on the face. But it was like splashing a bucket on its face. Momentarily taken aback, it renewed its contest to enter the door along with the other troll.

"It takes an adult wizard to take down a troll you moron!" Harry yelled at him.

"I planned to atleast knock them off their feet!" Adam defended.

"What for? To let the other one have his way with us!" Harry said in exasperation.

"You do something then!" Adam retorted.

Just then the archway gave out and the trolls stumbled into the washroom. Everyone was stunned for a moment at this new development. Even the trolls.

Adam was the quickest to recover.

"Diifindo!"

The spell only seemed to break the stupor on one of the trolls. The other followed as both stood up to attack the cornered kids.

"Glacius!" Harry shouted this time, pointing his wand at the floor.

The floor got coated with ice around the trolls who slipped as soon as they stepped on it.

"Normal spells won't work on them, their hide is too thick you dork. Cast around them!" Harry told Adam in annoyance.

"Incarcerous!" Adam said and the trolls were tied together.

The ropes were barely containing them.

"Hurry! There is no time." Harry cried at the stunned crowd behind them.

They sidestepped the barely restrained trolls who were on the verge of snapping the ropes Adam created.

Quickly, every one of them evacuated the toilet and ran through the corridors with Adam in the lead.

Adam stopped suddenly, others who were close behind him stumbled upon him.

"What…" Ron started to ask but stopped immediately.

The scene before them was from the very worst nightmare imaginable.

There were around a dozen trolls roaming around in the corridors. Everyone of them around twenty feet tall. Each bearing a club.

The trolls stupidly looked at the group of first years. The first years looked backed at the trolls in shocked silence.

Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She shrieked in horror, loud.

The magic of silence was broken.

Everyone ran back the way they came. Trolls hard in tow. Their little feets were hardly enough to keep up with the monstrosities behind them.

Trolls were closing in on them fast.

"Harry!" Adam signalled.

Harry understood.

"Glacius!"

The floor behind them went slippery with ice.

Some fell, others jumped over them.

"Reducto!" Adam shouted. A troll was hit, it stumbled a step backwards but continued onwards with the assault.

It wasn't soon before the merciful luck granted the five kids with a dead end.

"Remind me Adam, why I am friends with you again? Even after a hundred times I have gone through nightmares like this with you!" Ron wailed.

"Bombarda!" Adam cried.

One of the trolls felt pain akin to a punch in the face but the circumstances remained the same.

Harry watched helplessly as the trolls treaded towards them slowly as they realized that their prey is cornered, quarrelling amongst themselves for the first dip on the succulent children.

Harry was struck with an idea.

"Adam! Use the exploding hex again, on the clubs!" Harry told him urgently.

"Bombarda!"

The club of a troll sprung and hit another troll, who became angry and started a fight in ernest.

"Reducto! Bombarda!"

Adam used the trick on others and a brawl of the trolls ensued.

"We have to take them on now!" Harry told Adam and ran towards the mass fight.

"Harry Dursley! Just what do you think you are doing!" Hermione shouted behind him.

"No time Hermione. We would be in greater trouble if we don't take up the chance!" Harry said without turning back with Adam following him.

Both of them were panting hard with the exertion of magic and body they were enduring in this fight for survival.

"Depulso!" Harry shouted, pointing wand at a chunk of stone broken off from the wall and banishes it towards a troll which was going to punch another smaller troll.

"Defodio!" Adam shouted and a chunk of rock broke off the ground, only to make a troll trip on it and fall headfirst on the ground.

"Nothing is happening!" Adam shouted at Harry.

"I would lift you up, get blast them up in close quarters!" Harry shouted back.

"Are you cr…"

"Alarte ascendare!" Harry shouted.

"Whoa!" Adam was flung into the middle of the brawl and landed on the head of a troll.

Another troll saw him and attacked with the club. Adam jumped upon another greyish troll and heard his previous ride faint on the ground with the impact of the club.

The greyish troll tried to shake him off its head.

"Reducto!"Adam shouted, thrusting his wand inside the troll's nose.

Troll boogers blasted everywhere as Adam was flung to the ground by the now immobile troll.

A club was descending upon him.

"Carpe Retractum!" Adam heard Harry shout and a force pulled him out of the chaos in time.

"Are you trying to kill me!" Adam shouted at Harry.

"Didn't work now, did it?" Harry said gazing at the remaining three trolls.

"Fumos!" He cried and the trolls were blinded by the grey smoke around them.

"Incarcerous!" Adam shouted and one of the trolls had its legs bound and fell to the ground, fainting.

"Inscendio!" Harry shouted as another troll was just coming out of the smokescreen.

The grey smoke blasted off and the troll was flung away.

The duo heard a terrified shriek and looked back just in time to see the third troll who had escaped their assault flung his club high into the air to attack Hermione, Neville and Ron who were covering in a corner.

Ron, in desperation cried the first spell that came into his mind.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over — and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face.

There was silence for a moment around them and then unable to contain himself, Ron spoke out.

"I slew a troll."

There was a slamming sound and heavy footsteps echoed towards them in the now eerily silent hallway.

A moment later Professor McGonagall came burstling around the bend followed by Professor Snape with Professor Quirell bringing up the rear.

Harry had never seen Professor McGonagall so pale. It was like death warmed over her.

"What…What on earth were you thinking?" Cold fury leaked through the quiet voice as she looked at them. "Absolute luck! It was absolute luck that you are still standing in one piece!"

Harry and Adam, covered head to toe in greyish grey, disgusting slime. Ron was still holding his wand aloft in nearly the exact position when last he took out the troll. Hermione, covering in the corner. Neville, staring listlessly with his face as white as marble.

"Please, Professor McGonagall-they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last. "I went looking for the trolls because I — I thought I could deal with them on my own — you know, because I've read all about them."

Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger telling an outright lie to a teacher?

"If they hadn't found me, then I would had been dead by now." Hermione said, pointing a shake finger at Harry, Adam, Ron and Neville.

"Miss Granger! You foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a herd of mountain trolls on your own!"

"That is because she is lying professor." Harry intervened. "She was crying in the girls toilet all day because Ron and Adam were teasing her! I and Neville were trying to get her out. We knew nothing about the trolls!"

Professor McGonagall looked at Hermione for a moment who was looking at her feet and then whipped her head towards Adam and Ron.

"Is it true, Adam?"

"Yes Professor." Adam said hanging his head down.

"I am very disappointed in you Adam! I had half expected this from Mr. Weasley, but you too? Look what your foolishness has conspired. Ten points will be taken from both of you, and I should assume you have learnt your lesson from this by now!" She looked sternly at both Adam and Ron who were hanging their head low in shame. "I would make it sure that your parents will hear about it."

Adam and Ron felt colour drain from their face.

Harry noticed, that she didn't ask how in the world could a bunch of first years beat down a dozen trolls.

X-X-X

"You shouldn't have ratted them out, Harry. They helped us." Hermione said despondently when Adam and Ron had parted without a word. Neville was still tagging along with them in traumatic silence.

"We were there because of them in the first place!" Harry said angrily.

Hermione remained silent.

She parted with them to go back to her dormitories, while Harry decided to take Neville in the infirmary to wear off his shock.

X-X-X

Harry fell lifelessly into the bed after everything that day, and fell into a dreamless sleep instantly.

Harry slept heartily that day, like he had never slept in the past few weeks due to the nightmares.


End file.
